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Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by Silviya

You two both make convincing and also true arguments. Hmm. I've got a four week long pre-college art program thing in the summer, in which I will be doing art but I probably won't have any means to post any of it, so I'd
probably have to put the thread on hold for about a month, which is the main thing holding me back.

Honestly, though, this sort of thing would be really good for me. What got me to make real writing progress was the "700 words a day or shame list" that my writing group did a while back, in which everyone who participated had to report writing at least 700 words each day or be on that day's List of Shame. I was the only one to never be on the List of Shame, and I've never been more productive. So doing something similar with art is really what I need to stop being lazy and actually do art. The idea of making a thread like this terrifies me, because I hate all my art with a passion and hate showing it to people, because I'm always convinced that everyone will think I'm a terrible artist, but that's a fear that I need to face and get over, so that's another way that a thread like this would help. Anyway, I'll stop blabbing about myself.

Yeah, there are days - like today - when I'd almost prefer not to do a picture at all instead of the barely cogent rubbish I can produce with the time and brainpower reserves available.

But if I do a bad picture, the guilt of it will make me spend the entire next day thinking about what I can do to be better. And that's super motivation to do better. If you have to keep moving no matter what the mind starts to focus on how to do well rather than if it wants to do it at all. It's a great psychological trick.

Good luck, though, whatever you decide to do

Hmm, yeah, that could make things a bit trickier. There might be drawing sites that have models wearing tight yoga clothing and such? I haven't really looked, but I'd think there'd be something like that somewhere.

Yeah, I've been making do primarily by looking at people who don't wear much clothing as part of their profession; martial artists, athletes, surfers, wrestlers, that kinda thing. I could model off drawings but we all know why that's sub-optimal.

The practice pictures are looking good. One thing that I'd advise though, if you aren't already doing it, is trying to find where the subject is placing most of their weight. Most people stand with more weight on one foot or the other, or have their center of gravity off-center in some other way, and learning how to draw that can really help with making poses look less stiff, I've found.

Oh, great point, and a basic one I've completely forgotten.

Also, I think I've already posted this series of tutorials? If I haven't for whatever reason, here it is.

Thanks! It's always good to go back to tutorials even if you've looked at them once before.

Working on expressions next sounds like a good idea. You may need to devote more than a week to it, though, or maybe do something like the thing I suggested with the anatomy practice, and just quickly sketch one face every day.

Oh absolutely needs more than a week, especially a super busy week like next one - we're hitting finals time which is why everything recently has been so rubbish. But a week is a good start.

I'll probably have more tips for expressions for when you actually start working on them, but here's one that I found very helpful when I heard it: Draw heads, not faces. Yes, it takes longer, and you have to deal with getting the head shape right as well as the expression, which might seem like a pointless bother when you're working on expressions, but it really does help. You might end up making the face and the expression flat if you don't have a head to put it on, and if you draw too many headless faces, you'll learn how to do those well but when it comes to drawing a real head, it might end up looking really weird, like the face was just plastered on rather than being part of the head.

Will do!

Edit, because Thanqol is a ninja: I really like that most recent drawing. Experimenting with different heights and body types is always good. And yes, even though these pictures are sketchy and such, they're great practice.

Thanks!

Day 374: Goldfish'd

Not good at all but I completely failed my time management for the day. Feeling the pressure right now, but I should be out of the worst of it by the end of the week. Maybe something more later if I finish this essay in time.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Again, it's something I've been consciously working towards in a lot of ways. But it's still a bit of an end boss challenge.

I divide days into "Experimentation" and "Application" days. The experimentation days all add up when it comes time for an Application.

Makes sense.

I feel like the majority of this is nonsense. The process of typing up a post to explain what you learned each day forces you to reflect on what you've just done.

I know from experience that I'd learn how to reformat thoughts into words you understand, but I assure you a daily thread would be more about my in articulate English skill than the art. Almost.

Let you in on a secret though. Tomorrow, I'd I can get my arse up, I'm finding my old tablet, and skimming Thanqolthread 1 for tutorials and advice. Because diving in is worth a shot.

I'm probably going to hate you so bad.

Day 373: With Poise; With Anger

A basic exercise - a bunch of characters of differing heights at alternately foreground/background positions. I feel like it was a significant success.

This has been a great experiment and a great week for learning. I wouldn't want to continue it much further without a break, but even though the majority of these pictures have been extremely sketchy and not great to look at they're going to help me a lot when it comes time for Application later.

Yeah, there are days - like today - when I'd almost prefer not to do a picture at all instead of the barely cogent rubbish I can produce with the time and brainpower reserves available.

But if I do a bad picture, the guilt of it will make me spend the entire next day thinking about what I can do to be better. And that's super motivation to do better. If you have to keep moving no matter what the mind starts to focus on how to do well rather than if it wants to do it at all. It's a great psychological trick.

Good luck, though, whatever you decide to do

*jots down*

[/quote]
Yeah, I've been making do primarily by looking at people who don't wear much clothing as part of their profession; martial artists, athletes, surfers, wrestlers, that kinda thing. I could model off drawings but we all know why that's sub-optimal.[/quote]

Yoga, Pilates and Alternate Spirituality magazines. Magazines are a good source, as are catalogues. Just try not to feel dirty, sketching women in lingerie

Day 374: Goldfish'd

Not good at all but I completely failed my time management for the day. Feeling the pressure right now, but I should be out of the worst of it by the end of the week. Maybe something more later if I finish this essay in time.

Though besides looking only moderately like actual grapes, the pic looks good. The grapes stand out, both through color and the sort of depth-of-field effect you got there, so it's pretty nice, and just pretty.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by Thanqol

Day 375: Grapes Of Mild Bemusement

...they really do look like grapes. There is a consistent light source and a generally consistent shading based on that light source. That was part of the reason for the exercise. But the piece itself, as art, is very nice. I appreciate it. Thank you, Thanqol.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen

Lots of nicely shaded... balls.

Like a custom protein molecule gone haywire.

That's what she... said?

Though besides looking only moderately like actual grapes, the pic looks good. The grapes stand out, both through color and the sort of depth-of-field effect you got there, so it's pretty nice, and just pretty.

Good good. Good-good-good.

Originally Posted by Story Time

...they really do look like grapes. There is a consistent light source and a generally consistent shading based on that light source. That was part of the reason for the exercise. But the piece itself, as art, is very nice. I appreciate it. Thank you, Thanqol.

Always welcome

Day 376: I can hardly express...

Ah thank goodness, today I learned the most valuable thing you can possibly learn for drawing three dimensional heads. Indicated in the picture.

And starting on expressions! Hmmm~ this is going to be a tough one, I can tell that from the outset. One of those things that only long, long practise and study can get consistent. I'm looking forwards to it, though, because I'm tired of slack-jawed generic expressions and the Determined Stare as being the only two moves in my repertoire. What makes the really fun artists, in my eyes, is having lots of very vibrantly expressive characters. It's an essential part of character design, which is still my overall top goal.

I think I'm going to change up a few things for my sketching process in the days ahead and as I move out of finals. Firstly, one unique expression and one body sketch are going to be permanent additions to the schedule. Secondly, I'm thinking I might start looking at the Team Fortress 2 characters as special case studies that I'll go through in detail. They all have enormously expressive faces and body shapes, and I think if I can get the nine of them down then I'll have a pretty good conceptual base to do other characters.

Finally, this sketching is really hard to do in long sustained bursts like I have been doing because it's just kind of tedious. Instead, I'm going to endeavour to have SAI open all the time and doodle in between other things rather than having sit down and grind sessions while I'm on sketchy conceptual stuff like this.

If anyone has anything to help me with expressions, I'd love to hear it. The Lackadaisy tutorial has been an astoundingly useful place to start, got any more?

If you haven't yet, I'd suggest following the link on the last page for the dA anatomy tutorial. There's a set of links at the bottom of that page labelled "Manga to Realistic" which is mostly concerned with drawing realistic faces, assuming a cartoon-style starting point for most incoming artists. Although I don't really draw much in a manga style, the tips are pretty generically useful, and one of the later tutorials goes specifically into how the face moves in different facial expressions. There was also a neat section on thinking about how to draw different ethnicities, to break out of the Caucasian/Asian box lots of people can get stuck in.

I would link the page directly, but I'm at work and can't go link-hopping just yet >.>

Oh, also the grammar is a bit dodgy, but I think that's because the artist is ESL; the pictures tell most of the story anyway. Thought I should warn you, since I didn't know if that would trigger any of your writer buttons.

Last edited by the_druid_droid; 2012-05-28 at 10:01 AM.

This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

Originally Posted by Anarion

DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by Thanqol

Firstly, one unique expression and one body sketch are going to be permanent additions to the schedule.

This is a good idea.

Finally, this sketching is really hard to do in long sustained bursts like I have been doing because it's just kind of tedious. Instead, I'm going to endeavour to have SAI open all the time and doodle in between other things rather than having sit down and grind sessions while I'm on sketchy conceptual stuff like this.

This also sounds like a good idea. Keeping art fun and not so much of a chore is important.

If anyone has anything to help me with expressions, I'd love to hear it. The Lackadaisy tutorial has been an astoundingly useful place to start, got any more?

Hmm, tutorials. I think I've got some expression related tutorials somewhere, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. I'll keep looking and post them when I find them.

Some general advice that I have: I recently started doing some Babylon 5 fanart for practice, working from screenshots. I've found that this is a great way to practice expressions, as it forces me to really look at what makes an expression, and I end up drawing much more complicated and realistic expressions than just plain happiness or anger or sadness etc., and I've learned a lot about how to combine different emotions without them clashing with each other.
I'd advise picking a live action TV show that you watch, finding some screen shots of some of the characters' faces (preferably more expressive ones), and draw those. You can just sketch them, or you can go into full detail. Sketching has the advantage of being a lot quicker, but you'll learn more from doing detailed drawings.

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

If you haven't yet, I'd suggest following the link on the last page for the dA anatomy tutorial. There's a set of links at the bottom of that page labelled "Manga to Realistic" which is mostly concerned with drawing realistic faces, assuming a cartoon-style starting point for most incoming artists. Although I don't really draw much in a manga style, the tips are pretty generically useful, and one of the later tutorials goes specifically into how the face moves in different facial expressions. There was also a neat section on thinking about how to draw different ethnicities, to break out of the Caucasian/Asian box lots of people can get stuck in.

I would link the page directly, but I'm at work and can't go link-hopping just yet >.>

Oh, also the grammar is a bit dodgy, but I think that's because the artist is ESL; the pictures tell most of the story anyway. Thought I should warn you, since I didn't know if that would trigger any of your writer buttons.

Here. I haven't read it because I don't do manga (though maybe I should read it, given what The Druid Droid said about it), but I assume this is the tutorial you're talking about?

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

*swoops in through a window*

Is this the right one? I swear, if I got another warehouse full of thugs-oh, wait, there's art over there. Confirmed art, we've got the right thread.

To those of you who don't frequent the ponythread, I recently won a Theme Week from Thanqol. Basically, I pick a theme, he has to use that theme in his art for a week. So after mulling over ideas, I decided that, while interesting philosophical musings would no doubt turn out some interesting pictures, it just lacked that element of me-ness. Like, I wanted a bit more of myself in whatever theme I picked,

So! I decided on a different theme: Your theme is to draw my character from the year-long campaign I just finished.

Ssalik is short and wiry, even by Kobold standards, coming up to a whopping two feet in height. His scales are a mix of orange and rusty red-brown. On his chest is a branding of Draconic script, a brand he makes no active effort to hide. Several more burn marks sloppily connect points on the letters, in an attempt to make a fancy-looking design. To protect against the sunlight, he constantly wears a pair of Sundark Goggles; two blackened pieces of glass attached to a headband to make a crude set of sunglasses. In addition to giving him a nice charisma bonus, he's never seen without his cloak.

Ssalik came into possession of an artifact that he uses as his main weapon, and always has on his person. It is capable of opening doors, portals, even houses cleanly split and open up. Not to mention it can generate a portal between two locations. It even functions as a sword and a ranged weapon, shooting out beams of light at enemies. And, because my DM is a silly, silly lady, it happens to look like a key. So, basically, it's a Keyblade.

You're welcome to change its design, or you can try to get a design that fits the setting, or you may even decide to run with the silliness. I just supply the theme here, after all. Also, I don't expect you to write in Draconic on his chest, especially seeing how that language hasn't actually ever had a defined script.

Backstory

Spoiler

Show

Ssalik was born and raised a true Kobold. In his tribe, he was the trader between them and the nearby desert city. He took great pleasure in weaseling out great deals and scamming hapless stooges from the other races. When he showed talent for sorcery, his life was set. Heíd grow to become a powerful sorcerer (one of the best, obviously), and bring his tribe to new heights of glory. He jumped at the chance to volunteer for a special Kobold ritual, one that would help a sorcerer get in touch with their draconic blood and improve their magics. Only, once he completed the ritual, instead of improving his arcane abilities, he gained a shadow magic spell. To say this did not go over well with the elders of the tribe was an understatement. Sorcery was their birthright, handed down to them from the dragons themselves, and this new magic was nothing short of blasphemy. Ssalik tried to argue that perhaps this magic could be used to help the tribe, but they would hear none of it. They branded him with the draconic words ďNot of the dragonĒ and banished him in disgrace.

Now, to Ssalik, this was clearly a mistake. A temporary setback. He could fix this. But if this mark on his chest stayed, then other Kobolds might get the wrong idea. And he couldnít have that. So, one night, when he had a good, hot campfire going, he took his pickaxe and added a few marks of his own. The next day, he was back on the road, heading out to find answers, and correct his tribeís error.

Character Description

Spoiler

Show

Ssalik is a two-foot tall Kobold with an eight-foot tall ego. Difficulties are only minor setbacks, mistakes are things he hasnít yet fixed, and he doesnít shy away from speaking his mind. Though, being an excellent strategist (with a bit of a trickster streak), expert mage, and having an impeccable sense of style, a little insufferability is a small price to pay. He holds a near-fanatical devotion for his Kobold upbringing. He generally dislikes and distrusts other races, often refusing their aid and assistance. Those heís forced to work with he has little patience for, often considering them bungling idiots until proven otherwise. Dragons are held in near-defic regard. The best way to get him to shut up is stick a dragon in a room; heíll be too busy licking their boots to say much. And even in exile, he performs his tribeís morning rituals without fail. The one thing he wants in the world is to be re-accepted by his tribe.

Further character musings

Spoiler

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Denial defines Ssalik. Itís his response to almost anything. Heís shown kindness? Itís not genuine, itís all just a ploy. His plans fail? Just a minor setback, heíll fix it. He never manages to get past that stage of emotion, no matter how bad things get. And, as corny as it sounds, deep down he just wants to be accepted. He wants his tribe to think heís great, so he believes and acts like heís great. He wants his tribe to see him as a good Kobold, so he makes sure to do Kobold-y things. Because he fears rejection, he pushes others away and puts on airs. But by pushing them away and always putting on acts, he never gets the acceptance he truly wants. An interesting little paradox.

The best way to get him to do something important is to have somebody else try to do it. When he sees them messing it up, he'll smack them out of the way and take the helm himself to do it "properly". His tolerance for failure is incredibly low.

And, for further material, I've typed up a bunch of stories from the campaign, as well as a description of the campaign world. They aren't my best writing, but they get the job done.

Hopefully, I aimed my boon precisely enough. We went through a lot of crazy stuff over the past year, he and I, so if you need more examples of certain traits, or if I just wasn't clear on something, let me know, there's probably a story for that. I just hope I made the character clear, I could write and re-write stuff for a week on this guy.

Last edited by TheAmishPirate; 2012-05-29 at 09:10 PM.

Originally Posted by Eakin

We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

If you haven't yet, I'd suggest following the link on the last page for the dA anatomy tutorial. There's a set of links at the bottom of that page labelled "Manga to Realistic" which is mostly concerned with drawing realistic faces, assuming a cartoon-style starting point for most incoming artists. Although I don't really draw much in a manga style, the tips are pretty generically useful, and one of the later tutorials goes specifically into how the face moves in different facial expressions. There was also a neat section on thinking about how to draw different ethnicities, to break out of the Caucasian/Asian box lots of people can get stuck in.

I would link the page directly, but I'm at work and can't go link-hopping just yet >.>

Oh, also the grammar is a bit dodgy, but I think that's because the artist is ESL; the pictures tell most of the story anyway. Thought I should warn you, since I didn't know if that would trigger any of your writer buttons.

Cool-cool, will give it a look.

Originally Posted by Silviya

Hmm, tutorials. I think I've got some expression related tutorials somewhere, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. I'll keep looking and post them when I find them.

Some general advice that I have: I recently started doing some Babylon 5 fanart for practice, working from screenshots. I've found that this is a great way to practice expressions, as it forces me to really look at what makes an expression, and I end up drawing much more complicated and realistic expressions than just plain happiness or anger or sadness etc., and I've learned a lot about how to combine different emotions without them clashing with each other.
I'd advise picking a live action TV show that you watch, finding some screen shots of some of the characters' faces (preferably more expressive ones), and draw those. You can just sketch them, or you can go into full detail. Sketching has the advantage of being a lot quicker, but you'll learn more from doing detailed drawings.

Screenshots! A great idea! I had a bit of a tough time today trying to sketch from life because people move around a lot. I had a lot of success in the food court, though.

Here. I haven't read it because I don't do manga (though maybe I should read it, given what The Druid Droid said about it), but I assume this is the tutorial you're talking about?

Cool, thanks!

Originally Posted by TheAmishPirate

*swoops in through a window*

Is this the right one? I swear, if I got another warehouse full of thugs-oh, wait, there's art over there. Confirmed art, we've got the right thread.

To those of you who don't frequent the ponythread, I recently won a Theme Week from Thanqol. Basically, I pick a theme, he has to use that theme in his art for a week. So after mulling over ideas, I decided that, while interesting philosophical musings would no doubt turn out some interesting pictures, it just lacked that element of me-ness. Like, I wanted a bit more of myself in whatever theme I picked,

So! I decided on a different theme: Your theme is to draw my character from the year-long campaign I just finished.

Since I have just started expressions, I'll get to this at the start of next week most likely

Day 377: NotBoat

God, I love Mage. It's the best thing ever.

Also Jayden has a new least favourite Arcanum. It is Fate. It makes no sense and is dumb. She also almost accidentally Awakened the entire city this session. And by Awakened the entire city of LA, she means threw the entire city into the Abyss in the idea that some of the people would have hit the other side.

The legit only reason she stopped was because she got a nosebleed. True story.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Here. I haven't read it because I don't do manga (though maybe I should read it, given what The Druid Droid said about it), but I assume this is the tutorial you're talking about?

Yep, that's the one, and I considered skipping it too because I don't really draw manga either. But I got bored, and started leafing through it; turns out, the manga stuff comes in mostly incidentally and you can get 99% of the benefit of it even if you completely ignore that.

This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

Originally Posted by Anarion

DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.

Yes, Babylon 5! Prepare for laughtears (the official word for how one reacts to B5, according to Tumblr). Also, nice sketches.

On the topic of learning expressions from screenshots, here is an archive of B5 screenshots, if you're interested, sorted by episode so that you can avoid spoilers. I've found drawing Londo in particular to be really good for practicing complex expressions, particularly in some of the later seasons, since he tends to have at least three different expressions at once.

Also, the way I've found to capture the expressions the best is to paint them, not draw them, using the technique that you call pure paints. I find it a lot more fun than trying to get the face right with just lines, and it makes you think more about the structure and shape of the face, rather than just what lines are in it. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

Spoiler

Show

Ignore his outfit, I never really bothered to finish it.

I generally take 2-3 hours on these, over the course of a couple of days, so you probably won't be able to go into a ton of detail, but I do think that it could be good for you to try out.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by Silviya

Yes, Babylon 5! Prepare for laughtears (the official word for how one reacts to B5, according to Tumblr). Also, nice sketches.

On the topic of learning expressions from screenshots, here is an archive of B5 screenshots, if you're interested, sorted by episode so that you can avoid spoilers. I've found drawing Londo in particular to be really good for practicing complex expressions, particularly in some of the later seasons, since he tends to have at least three different expressions at once.

Ha! Thanks, I'll make good use of this.

So far the series isn't half bad, even if the special effects look like they screencapped a game of Galactic Civilisations.

Also, the way I've found to capture the expressions the best is to paint them, not draw them, using the technique that you call pure paints. I find it a lot more fun than trying to get the face right with just lines, and it makes you think more about the structure and shape of the face, rather than just what lines are in it. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

Spoiler

Show

Ignore his outfit, I never really bothered to finish it.

I generally take 2-3 hours on these, over the course of a couple of days, so you probably won't be able to go into a ton of detail, but I do think that it could be good for you to try out.

I'll try one right now!

Day 379: Art Not Guaranteed

Quite like how this turned out.

Okay, a total dodge of the expressions thing but it had to be done. I've always loved facelessness. When I was a kid, Soundwave and Optimus Prime were best transformers because they didn't have mouths, they just had visor things. Interesting to reflect back on how that has rung true for me throughout my life. That, plus the fact that this guy has the coolest voice, makes him best character.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by Thanqol

So far the series isn't half bad, even if the special effects look like they screencapped a game of Galactic Civilisations.

Season one is decent, but it's the later seasons where it really becomes amazing (mid season two did it for me. Mainly the episode "The Coming of Shadows"). It also starts to pick up a little over halfway through season one, with the 13th episode, "Signs and Portents." You may have heard this about a hundred times before, because it's what basically every B5 fan tells newcomers to the show.

And yeah, the special effects are pretty bad, though by the end of the series I didn't mind them at all. It was a combination of them getting better and me getting used to them, I think.

Day 379: Art Not Guaranteed

Quite like how this turned out.

Okay, a total dodge of the expressions thing but it had to be done. I've always loved facelessness. When I was a kid, Soundwave and Optimus Prime were best transformers because they didn't have mouths, they just had visor things. Interesting to reflect back on how that has rung true for me throughout my life. That, plus the fact that this guy has the coolest voice, makes him best character.

Nice. The shading worked out really well in this one. Even if it doesn't help with expressions, it does help with colors and lighting and textures and such. And I like how you did the background, particularly the subtle texture on the walls.
And Kosh is awesome. I really hadn't expected him to get any character development or be anything other than a typical Vorlon, but I was very wrong. I think that Kosh and Londo were my two favorite characters. But I also love G'kar and Vir and Ivanova and Delenn. There are a lot of awesome characters in that show.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by Silviya

Season one is decent, but it's the later seasons where it really becomes amazing (mid season two did it for me. Mainly the episode "The Coming of Shadows"). It also starts to pick up a little over halfway through season one, with the 13th episode, "Signs and Portents." You may have heard this about a hundred times before, because it's what basically every B5 fan tells newcomers to the show.

I have. I think I got told to start in season 2 and watch S1 last, which I disregarded. I feel like the show should be able to stand on it's own merits. So far it mostly has.

And yeah, the special effects are pretty bad, though by the end of the series I didn't mind them at all. It was a combination of them getting better and me getting used to them, I think.

I've been spoiled by Battlestar Galactica.

Nice. The shading worked out really well in this one. Even if it doesn't help with expressions, it does help with colors and lighting and textures and such. And I like how you did the background, particularly the subtle texture on the walls.

I'm finding in general, though notably with this picture, that single coloured paintings look wrong and flat. It's worth splashing down a variety of random colours across a painting and blurring it until it's just a hint purely for the little edge of texture it gives you.

And Kosh is awesome. I really hadn't expected him to get any character development or be anything other than a typical Vorlon, but I was very wrong. I think that Kosh and Londo were my two favorite characters. But I also love G'kar and Vir and Ivanova and Delenn. There are a lot of awesome characters in that show.

Lookin' forwards to it!

Day 380: Sketch.jpg

Observing a bit of an art funk occurring. Heh, interestingly the times when I feel the least encouraged about drawing are the times when I do the least drawing. Still, break has started so hopefully I'll break the mood soon.

It's like my thoughts are all flowing upstream. Need to absorb, reflect, process.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

I have. I think I got told to start in season 2 and watch S1 last, which I disregarded. I feel like the show should be able to stand on it's own merits. So far it mostly has.

I'm very glad that you disregarded that advice. I know that some people think that that's the best way to watch it, but I enjoyed season one, it just isn't as awesome as the rest of the series. I personally think that it's absolutely necessary to watch season one, and I know that I would have enjoyed the later seasons less without having seen it.

I'm finding in general, though notably with this picture, that single coloured paintings look wrong and flat. It's worth splashing down a variety of random colours across a painting and blurring it until it's just a hint purely for the little edge of texture it gives you.

This is a very important thing to learn if you want to make your art realistic. This is why I try to never use the dodge and burn tools, since they just darken or lighten the colors, when more realistic highlights and shadows change around the saturation and the tone of the colors, not just how light or dark a color is. One of the big rules of art is that if you're going to darken a color, don't just do it by adding black, and if you're going to lighten a color, don't just add white.

That kind of strayed off of what the original point was, though. Which is that yes, art looks flat and boring and unrealistic if it's all one color, just at different values. Something that you should be aware of for more detailed art pieces is that light reflects off of objects onto their surroundings, which changes the color of the surroundings. If you put a bright red box into a blue room, there'd be a bit of red on the walls of the room. Similarly, if you had a character wearing a green scarf, a little bit of green would reflect off of the scarf onto the edge of their chin, if the light was going in the right direction. This is easy to overdue, and you probably won't want to do this for quicker, simpler color jobs, but just a little hint of the surrounding color can add a lot to the realism of a piece.

This looks really cool. I like her expression and attitude, and her hair looks nice. The only things that jump out at me as wrong is her left shoulder, which shouldn't stick out that much given the angle that she's turned at, and her right forearm, which looks a bit too long. Other than that, looks good. I'm looking forward to seeing this colored.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Originally Posted by Silviya

I'm very glad that you disregarded that advice. I know that some people think that that's the best way to watch it, but I enjoyed season one, it just isn't as awesome as the rest of the series. I personally think that it's absolutely necessary to watch season one, and I know that I would have enjoyed the later seasons less without having seen it.

*Nod* I find that most advice to watch shows out of order are poorly thought through. Often a lot of concepts introduced early are important later, even if the show only 'got good' later, thus leaving a new entrant lost.

This is a very important thing to learn if you want to make your art realistic. This is why I try to never use the dodge and burn tools, since they just darken or lighten the colors, when more realistic highlights and shadows change around the saturation and the tone of the colors, not just how light or dark a color is. One of the big rules of art is that if you're going to darken a color, don't just do it by adding black, and if you're going to lighten a color, don't just add white.

That kind of strayed off of what the original point was, though. Which is that yes, art looks flat and boring and unrealistic if it's all one color, just at different values. Something that you should be aware of for more detailed art pieces is that light reflects off of objects onto their surroundings, which changes the color of the surroundings. If you put a bright red box into a blue room, there'd be a bit of red on the walls of the room. Similarly, if you had a character wearing a green scarf, a little bit of green would reflect off of the scarf onto the edge of their chin, if the light was going in the right direction. This is easy to overdue, and you probably won't want to do this for quicker, simpler color jobs, but just a little hint of the surrounding color can add a lot to the realism of a piece.

This was super double helpful for making that concept click. and I'm really glad you took the time to say it. Thank you.

This looks really cool. I like her expression and attitude, and her hair looks nice. The only things that jump out at me as wrong is her left shoulder, which shouldn't stick out that much given the angle that she's turned at, and her right forearm, which looks a bit too long. Other than that, looks good. I'm looking forward to seeing this colored.

Ah, that left shoulder! I had it right the first time and then meddled with it. Thanks for pointing that out. Will colour it tomorrow, had a Day.

Day 382: It's A-Me

Did you know I fought in the Console Wars? Diehard Nintendo fanboy. It's so inherent to my being I automatically dismiss any title on any other console out of hand. The scars run deep and Sony will never be forgiven.

Also interestingly, I never actually meaningfully played a Mario game. The Zelda series was sublime, the Metroid Prime arc a masterpiece, but I never actually touched on the flagship product.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Day 383: A Cache of Memories

Step off the schedule because today was poorly scheduled (but on the plus side, I should finally be caught up with everything - damn you Day9), and because I found a trove of wonderful photographs I took last Christmas. Some of those just have amazing composition and demand to be drawn.

And I think I might go out with the camera to get more pictures like this, because finding something cool and unique like this just lying around for me to model off would be super cool.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

Yay for Darling Harbour!

Perspective is a bit off on the water feature, and thus the footpath (note the distance between the top of the feature and the far pedestrian) and the short side of the pillar. The line of the back retaining walls don't square up with each other either.

All your figures (here and earlier) are coming together, though often seem stiff in their poses - could just be lack of shading + construction lines making them seem flat rather than the pose itself though.
Most of the issues are fairly minor. For instance the girl with the staff (previous thread? long blonde hair) - her right-hand thumb is curled right over in a wide grip, but that would be really uncomfortable with something of that diametre. The thumb only really curls like that when gripping something narrow, like when in a fist.
Also with her movement her hair would have a different line as in its current incarnation it doesn't seem to interact with her backpack and (if she's spinning around) curve around her body or (if she's just whipping her head) either not be visible or just the tip.
Still a great pic and good to see your work improving

Princess in the streets.
Princess in the sheets.
Don't touch me I'm royalty.

Re: Thanqol Learns 2 Draw: Every Step Is The First

"As for worrying about whether something is 'your style', the answer to that one is easy. It only counts as your style if you have the skill to do it any way you want, but chose this way." - Anonymous

Originally Posted by Zorg

Yay for Darling Harbour!

Good catch ^^

Perspective is a bit off on the water feature, and thus the footpath (note the distance between the top of the feature and the far pedestrian) and the short side of the pillar. The line of the back retaining walls don't square up with each other either.

*Nod nod*

All your figures (here and earlier) are coming together, though often seem stiff in their poses - could just be lack of shading + construction lines making them seem flat rather than the pose itself though.
Most of the issues are fairly minor. For instance the girl with the staff (previous thread? long blonde hair) - her right-hand thumb is curled right over in a wide grip, but that would be really uncomfortable with something of that diametre. The thumb only really curls like that when gripping something narrow, like when in a fist.
Also with her movement her hair would have a different line as in its current incarnation it doesn't seem to interact with her backpack and (if she's spinning around) curve around her body or (if she's just whipping her head) either not be visible or just the tip.
Still a great pic and good to see your work improving

Thanks for the advice, that's helpful to know ^^

Day 384: Weapons Test Mrk. 2

I took the time today to try out all those custom brushes I acquired and get a feel for what my toolset looks like here. I'll do more sketching at tonight's game, but between this and all the art-related reading I've done over the last day or two I'm feeling pretty enthused!